


The Oblivious Bastard

by CheshireMadd



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alya defends her girl Marinette, Crack-ish, F/M, I was going for Alya Sugar here, Lila salt, Not Alya Salt, maybe just a little
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:35:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22082701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CheshireMadd/pseuds/CheshireMadd
Summary: Everyone knows that the School Sweetheart turns down every offer she gets because she's in love with an Oblivious Bastard.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 54
Kudos: 1437





	The Oblivious Bastard

She found him in the courtyard at lunchtime. It’s Wednesday, which was when the entire class pooled their money and ordered in for lunch. An idea their class president had to discuss problems, celebrate victories, and generally help them bond. She’d even informed Nathalie that it was mandatory, and gained him ongoing permission.

“Look, I’ve tried to bring this up in private, but it’s gotten too bad. I can’t keep quiet about it any more.”

And, okay, that’s fair. Adrien _had_ been avoiding being alone with Lila. He didn’t trust her, didn’t want to be near her, and lately he’d been thinking that anything she heard made its way to his father.

“Adrien. This may be hard to hear, but…” Lila made a show of hesitance and struggle and then forced all the words out in a rush. “Marinette’s been stalking you! She’s stolen from you multiple times, she’s got your entire schedule on a giant pull down in her room, she goes to all of your events. Some are just making excuses for her, but I can’t let you be targeted like this any longer.”

The silence was deafening.

_What?! Of all the crazy-_

“Lila, I told you it isn’t like that!” Huh. Adrien’s never actually seen Alya get angry at Lila. But, here she was, eyes flashing from behind her glasses and fists clenched.

“It’s not okay, Alya! You said she stole his phone-”

“She d- It was an- That was one time!” Marinette stole his phone? When did _that_ happen? His head followed his attention, back and forth as each attack was launched and parried.

“-she stalks his photoshoots, his fencing meets..”

“Yeah, _supporting_ her friend, and cheering him on!” He actually really loved it when she showed up just for him. Seeing Marinette at a photoshoot put an easier smile on his face, which the photographers raved about.

“Friend?!” Lila’s voice was incredulous. “She can barely speak to him!” Well, that’s not entirely wrong, but it wasn’t entirely right either… Was that guilt on Alya’s face?

“Only when I pressured her to-!” She cut herself off with a growl. “She’s fine other times!” Yeah, that was definitely guilt. Alya pressured Marinette? To do what?

He snuck a look at Marinette, but couldn’t look away once he had. She stared at Lila and Alya with a growing horror. Then she noticed his attention and sickly fear added to the mix.

Usually Lila’s lies were baseless, and Marinette was quick to defend herself. He knew she found it hard to stand by and do nothing. Like she was now doing. She might as well have been frozen.

Marinette got anxious and sometimes mixed her words. He'd seen it directly before turning in an entry for an important contest or doing final fittings for celebrity clients. But it was never as bad as when _Adrien_ was the focal point. Like last week at lunch when their waiter assumed Marinette was his girlfriend. Or any of the times Marinette was voluntold to be his partner. She stuttered and turned bright red, sometimes separating herself so she could calm down.

...That made a strange sort of sense in this new context, didn't it.

" _Everyone_ knows that the School Sweetheart turns down every offer she gets because she's in love with some Oblivious Bastard, and you're telling me that _I'm_ that Oblivious Bastard?!"

(Perhaps he should thank Nathalie for all those lessons about dealing with paparazzi and taking command of a room: the two girls had stopped arguing, those of the class that weren’t looking for nasty purple butterflies were shooting sympathetic looks at him and Marinette, and a fair amount of the _other_ students in the courtyard were now paying attention.)

Adrien's mouth hung open like a goldfish. Hah, what an accurate description. He certainly felt as aware as a goldfish. They- _they'd talked about love languages._ About how she showed her love through gifts and acts of service, and he through words of affirmation and touch. _And he still hadn't gotten it._

_He’s an **idiot.**_

Marinette’s head hung down, hiding behind her fringe. Shoulders hunched in a way he never wanted to see again. Her tiny, beautiful hands tightly tangled together.

_The biggest Idiot. Capital I-D-I-O-T._

“So, uh, M-Marinette…” Wow, this was a lot harder without a mask and in front of his whole class. He cleared his throat. It didn’t help. “Would- would you go to the, uh, the school festival with me?”

She snapped to attention, big eyes wide and tearing up. Her face was completely red by this point. It spread down her neck, past her shirt collar and- no, Agreste! Bad! Don’t think about how far her blush goes! Maman Agreste raised a _gentleman_ , not a horny tomcat! Her soft voice broke through his self-admonition. “D-do you mean like a- a date?”

“If-if you want it to be?” Tiny gods, his voice was still too high-pitched. “It doesn’t have to be a date-date! We can go as friends if- if you prefer.”

Her smile was so sweet and sincere. It came down on him like angels singing down from the heavens. “I’d like. That. I’d like that. Going on a date-date, I mean. With you.”

His heart flip-flopped. She said yes! “Great! Great.” He nodded. Wait, why he was nodding? He stopped. “Pick you up at 16h30?”

 _“Uh-huh!”_ Marinette seemed to be at her capacity for words. Her blushes and flustered states had always been adorable. Now that he knew _he_ was the reason for them? Words could not describe how cute she was. Or how happy he was. He suddenly realized how goofy his grin had become.

_She said yes!_

_He had a date with Marinette Dupain-Cheng!_

A noise akin to a teakettle caught his attention. The rest of the class had kind of faded into the background. He was finally paying attention again, and he saw Alya gleefully filming, Rose sighing while squeezing the life out of Juleka (who seemed resignedly happy), Mylene was hopping up and down in excitement, and Lila had turned an interesting shade of purple.

“But _I_ asked to be your date to the school festival! You said you were going to be busy!”

“I am going to be busy, Lila. _I’ve_ got a date with _Marinette_.” He didn’t even try to keep the gloat out of his voice.

**Author's Note:**

> Alya: Hey, can you say that opening line again, Adrien? I didn’t have my camera out then, and I need this footage to show at your wedding.


End file.
